Creed II Review: Punch Drunk Dad Love

Creed II is the heart-punching father figure family drama of the year. I was on the edge of my seat, not just because Michael B. Jordan was glistening the whole time, and thank you to the filmmakers for making that possible. Each shining shirtless match, vigorous training session, I understood more how his body works…phenomenal. Excuse me, let me get back to the film.

The second part of the Creed saga has a different style but stays true to the budding Creed brand. This film, executive produced by Ryan Coogler but not directed, does not have the Coogler stamp on it as the first film did. In the first Creed, we had those moments of iconic imagery that Coogler loves to do. Scenes that gave an authentic feel of the culture of the city surrounding Creed and all those unique styles that Coogler brings. This time around we got a classic boxing film, shots, camera angles, and scenes classic to the boxing film genre. This is not to say director Steven Caple Jr. did a bad job–not in the slightest. In fact, I think Caple did a great job! It took the classic approach, with great writing and a story that we all know brings the drama. This time around the style truly fit within the Rocky brand in this new Creed format. Almost directly playing homage to the first films, there were moments that harken back to exact scenes from Rocky. These moments, whether it is in Rocky telling a story or in the clothes Bianca, Tessa Thompson’s character, is wearing, you were taken back to those first …